Remember when I said Ryan and I were going to decorate our Christmas tree one night a week ago? Well, that never happened.
We decorated our house and put the tree up, but our tree is still totally naked with the exception of the lights that were already on our pre-lit fake Christmas tree. I feel a bit like Scrooge, but I don’t think we’ll have a fully decorated tree this year. As someone who is basically obsessed with all things holiday, I’m not sure how this happened, but since we’re spending Christmas with my family anyway, I’m oddly okay with our somewhat pathetic tree.
Yes, only about half of our fake Christmas tree branches have been separated and fluffed. It’s a little sad.
Please tell me some of you guys out there are tree-less or have a severely neglected tree standing up in your home. We should upload those pictures to Instagram.
Workout + Breakfast
This morning, Ryan and I headed to the gym before the sun came up for a workout. After a 10 minute warm up, I did my 1000 rep workout before it was time to head home for breakfast.
My morning meal began with a sliced pear.
Followed by a hot mug of coffee and another egg white and oatmeal protein pancake.
That’ll do it!
Now I need to change and head out the door to the gym to teach. See ya this afternoon!
Question of the Morning
- Do you decorate for the holidays? If so, were you on top of holiday decorating this year or are you coming up a little short like we are in our house?
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I’ve definitely slacked in the decorating department this year! The stockings are up though 🙂
A naked tree is better than no tree!
We actually got our tree from a tree farm on Dec. 1, and had it decorated by the 7th! First time we were actually ahead of the game this year…
This is my first Christmas away from home so in order to not feel to homesick we got busy decorating as soon as December hit. They don’t start selling and putting up Christmas trees here though until the 23rd so I am def missing out on a tree this year.
Our tree shrank – had a little 5ft fake tree, with a few ornaments, my cat knocked it over while I was at work and broke the top – now have a 3ft tree! 🙂 It works and serves the purpose! Your tree looks wonderful – SIMPLE! 🙂
We did decorate our tree this year, but I told my husband last night that the tree is coming down December 26th haha. I am due with our first baby on January 13th, and I’m afraid to have the baby early and come home to these decorations everywhere that I won’t have time to take down for months haha. Kinda of scrooge-like but I feel like it’s a good reason!
Julie: Too funny! I wrote about just this on my blog last night. LOL. Feel free to read it! http://www.fabinyour40s.com/BlogPage.html
Yup, we decorate for the holidays. We just decorate the inside, but don’t put much outside. We put everything up two weekends ago. It’s so much work to lug everything up from the basement, but the results are worth it!
Since I’m all over the place during the holidays (Tennessee, Georgia, Colorado), I don’t really get motivated to decorate, but one day when I’m home more, I’d love to go all out. It just doesn’t feel like Christmas without it!
This makes me feel 1000% times better! My boyfriend and I just moved into a new place over the past 2 weeks and kept planning on getting a real tree, but, it just never happened. We JUST bought a fake tree last night (a display one, because there were no more left in boxes, after we discovered that the real ones were gone!) and all we’ve done is put it up.
I was in the holiday spirit all month and have been really disappointed about this tree business. But, you’ve seriously made me feel much better about the whole thing. Neglected trees – unite!
Really, the ONLY time we decorate for a holiday is Christmas. My mom does put up an inflatable turkey in the front yard after Halloween, until Black Friday for Thanksgiving, but once Thanksgiving’s over, it’s time to haul out the holly.
We’ve got kind of a Peanuts theme going this year. Last year at Hallmark, they had these wireless Peanuts characters playing instruments (Charlie Brown-Saxaphone, Snoopy-Electric Guitar, Lucy-Flute and Schroeder-Piano, obviously). Last week, online, my mom found one of Linus playing the trumpet and it arrived yesterday. Linus was always my favorite Peanut, and I played trumpet in the school band for four years, so we definitely have a kinship there. 😉 Each figuring plays two songs, and activates the others to play along. They’re pretty awesome.
But, with the little wireless music boxes (I guess that’s what you’d call them), and a plushy Snoopy/Woodstock playing piano (it plays 3 songs!), the homemade Peanuts Nativity in the front yard (made by a church friend. They look awesome!), and presents wrapped in Peanuts paper under the tree, you’d think we were fans of peanuts or something…I like our theme. I’m hoping next year, when my sis and I can finally move out, we do a Disney-themed tree. We even have a Cinderella “Angel” to sit on top. <3
We have our tree decorated, but I totally understand not being able to decorate your tree with how busy this time of year gets! And if you aren’t going to be home for Christmas then it really isn’t a big deal!
We just threw some lights and ornaments on our $13 tree over the weekend. Somehow it just wasn’t that big of a deal to me this year! I do love the lights now that they’re on, but I felt kind of “eh” about the whole thing. Weird, right?? Anyway, I fully support your semi-naked tree. It just might be one of those years!
I do decorate for the holidays, but this year it seems as if Christmas has snuck up on me! I do have my Christmas tree decorated, but no presents are wrapped yet! My goal is to get that done this weekend!
Hi Julie! Long time reader but haven’t really commented prior. Just wanted to share that our tree is half naked because two toddlers = a destroyed tree on the bottom half. So, rest assured some of us get it all decorated and by all… I mean very little lol.
Don’t feel like scrooge … I (myself) love Christmas! Obsessed, really. But this year, we remodeled a room and had company on Thanksgiving weekend (ALL weekend) and I was too tired to bust out the bins of holiday cheer on (thanksgiving) Sunday night after the final guest had left. In addition, I just returned from a trip out west for my friend’s wedding. Shout out to spending a weekend with friends from Ocala! Very fun, but I lost 6 days! 🙂 And here we are a few days away. Not a single light has been put up … no garland …my cards haven’t gone out…. not even a tree! My home is pathetic, and all of my gifts are being hid at my office (so I don’t give them to my family early) Nothing is wrapped, in fact I still need to do some shopping! And an ice storm is in my near forecast …. (I’m a sissy driver on ice). I have NO idea what happened with my festive cheer spreading plan! I need a December do-over. You’re not alone…..
we haven’t done Christmas cards this year yet either! glad we’re on the same page. 🙂
My boss and I were just talking about how she has a huge empty tree in her apartment!
Don’t worry about it, you are way more decorated than our house. The only thing holiday are the presents we bought for people (and they aren’t even wrapped). We are going out of town for Christmas this year and I didn’t feel like putting a tree up and then taking it down when we got back. Bahhumbug.
lol! I have a 4 foot fake tree that’s definitely not the fluffiest of trees but it’s definitely nice to bring a little Christmas cheer into the house.
If it was left to me it definitely wouldn’t happen! But I’m living at home at the moment so my mum got it sorted a few weeks ago! Two trees and bits and pieces everywhere. My Dad is a Christmas decoration nut…they just keep appearing!
Don’t feel bad! I’ve been crazy busy with grad school before Christmas, so I’ve barely started shopping, haven’t sent out Christmas cards (and know I wont get to it!). We did get a tree though – but we got it too early and now the needles fall off in a giant ring every time my dog hits it… which is every time she runs by. I leave my vacuum out and plugged in right next to the tree all day every day!
I whipped out some festive place mats for the dinner table… Sadly that is all!
My tree is up with just the lights too! Although my husband did fluff all the branches! We are waiting to decorate until my son comes home from college, but I’m kind of liking the lights only! Hopefully by the end of the weekend it will be done.
I was so on top of it this year! I decorated the weekend after Thanksgiving….I love to have decorations up for as long as possible. I also wanted to go all out because it’s my daugher Annabelle’s first Christmas. 🙂
We got our tree done and put up our stockings but that’s it. I didn’t even put the wreath up until this weekend. Don’t be hard on yourself. It happens and it’s hard to get it all done especially when you travel.
I love that window. Such good natural lighting
Maybe I’m a bit of a scrooge, but I don’t really care for decorating the house haha but I always love it after it is done! And we just got the tree up last night! But if you aren’t going to be spending the holidays at your house, I don’t see a problem in not decorating too much, less to clean up later 😉
I have a naked
We have a naked tree up this year too. My heart wasn’t it in this year since my Father passed away last year on 12/26. Trying to do all the “normal” Christmas-y things I love doing, but this year I’m just enjoying the simple beauty of a tree with sparkling white lights.
Hahahaha! I love it! Finally I don’t feel so alone, lol!
I had great intentions of putting a tree up…but then it feels like there are only a few weeks until xmas, and we usually leave the weekend before to go up north where we cut down a tree Christmas eve and haul it into the cabin to decorate. I love Christmas but it comes and goes so quick! I too put up other decorations like you, so I think we are good!
We’ve decorated our tree and hung our wreath & stockings, but that’s it. Minimal, but it works as we leave for the holidays tomorrow!
My parents decorate like crazy for the holidays and since I am living with them I get it by default! Haha!
I decorate but it’s nothing elaborate! I put up a tree, two stockings, and some lights on the fireplace. We are often traveling for Christmas so we aren’t even here. IT seems to work the best this way right now.
We were quick in going to actually GET our tree, but once we got it, it sat for over a week undecorated! IT eventually got done, though, and now the house feels so festive!
House is decorated. Presents are bought and wrapped. Cookies to be made this weekend. And we are dunzo!
I’m going to SERIOUSLY put your mind at ease because I have a NAKED Christmas tree too!! I was actually SUPER glad to read this post because I have felt so bad that I’ve done nothing to the tree!! I have my house decorated but NADA on the tree!
Thanks so much for making me feel normal!!!
we host a thanksgiving potluck dinner every year, which is the perfect reason to get our tree up! ours is pretty small and also pre-lit, so that makes it easy. PLUS we have a “game” for our guests — we put all the ornaments in a bowl, and have each person hang one on the tree! two birds, one stone (or ornament?)
absolutely no xmas decorations over here! We’ve done alot of travelling this month, so it didn’t make sense to go to all that work for only 1 week at the house!
Don’t worry Julie!!! We don’t even have a tree and sadly I don’t think we will end up getting one. 🙁 We were gone after thanksgiving weekend, which was the only nice weekend it warm enough to go to the tree farm with our 8 month old! The last 3 weekends it’s been almost in the negatives,therefore no tree for us at the moment!
I had the mantle and living room decorations up before Thanksgiving (makes that holiday feel more festive to me), but then my spurt of holiday fervor died a bit. We got our tree the weekend after Thanksgiving, but just got it decorated this last week! So a little bit of over-achieving followed by some procrastination in this house.
We went all out decorating for Christmas this year. We got a 9 foot tree and made Christmas cards. I normally never make this big a deal of Christmas but since it’s our first married Christmas I decided to do it up!
Here’s a picture of our decorated Christmas tree:
http://girlgoneveggie.com/its-beginning-to-look-a-lot-like-christmas/
We’re not doing a tree this year either since we have been absolutely slammed since our wedding in November, and are road-trippin’ to San Diego on Christmas day to visit family. I first I was kind of bummed about it and the fact that we wouldn’t be having everyone over for Christmas Eve like we have the past three years, but then remembered the hassle of cleaning up the tree (pine needles everywhere, no thanks!). Since we are tree-less, I decided to put all the gifts under my blooming Christmas cactus, and hung up the stockings (including the fur children stockings, obviously) so it still feels Christmassy 🙂
I got all of my inside decorations up but we never got around to doing the outside! I feel like a scrooge for that…but in all of our defense, this year was a SUPER SHORT holiday season!! Thanksgiving was literally as late as it could possibly have fallen.
Haha – well, ours is sort of neglected. Our tree only has ornaments on the top 1/3 of the it. Our new kitten has decided to try to jump as high as he can and bat every single ornament off, until he can’t reach anymore.
I have been Christmas crazy this year because I am hosting at my house! I’m so excited and have definitely been bitten by the Christmas bug!
Wait, so are you going to put the decorations up?
I’m all decorated this year, but I do make a major concession to my Christmas traditions by using a fake tree at my house. I always go to my parents’ house for the actual holiday, so it seems like a waste to leave a real tree sitting at my place all alone. I feel a little bit guilty about using a fake tree every year though!
Since I’m normally the “decorator” and was at college until less than a week ago, our house looked pathetic until I added my touches 😉 We have a fake tree and every year before we fluff it, I always think it looks horrible. Annnnd then we add lights and ornaments and fluff it and it somehow it turns out good!
The hubbs and I totally neglected getting a tree… and this is our first year married! We were going to make it a date one night to go and cut down a tree, but we then decided it was too cold. I totally agree with you when you said it’s easy to neglect since you’ll be elsewhere on Christmas day…
I had thought that I would be spending this week before Christmas on a business trip, so I freaked out and put up the decorations and tree two weeks ago. At least we get to enjoy it that much longer, right?
I completely slacked on the decorating this year and I leave for a week starting monday so I think Im a scrooge this year too.
Yep…totally slacked on decorating this year! We have a few of our decorations up, but not either of our two trees. However, we have an excuse – just moved to North Carolina from Ohio last week!